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automatic teller

automatic teller

2 3.4
A machine outside banks that lets customers use a bank card to take out cash and do simple bank tasks
  • noun
  • /ˈɔːtəmætɪk ˈtɛlər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cajero automático
  • Many people prefer using the automatic teller for quick withdrawals instead of waiting in line.
  • automatic teller machine

Examples

  • After depositing a check, he used the automatic teller to get some cash for lunch.

  • We could replace you with an automatic teller.

  • There are no automatic teller machines to withdraw money either.

    Blog text (27)
  • He had seen his dad get cash with his credit card at the bank and at the automatic teller machine.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • We bank online and through computerized automatic teller machines.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Their records show he withdrew two hundred dollars from the automatic teller in the lobby at two thirty-five.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • For several days, Judd saved cash, withdrawing as much as he could each day from the automatic teller machine.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • She checked her wallet to make sure she had fifty dollars in cash; she did, but it would wipe her out until she could get to an automatic teller, something she didn't like to do at night.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • She withdrew cash from the automatic teller before heading to the grocery store.

Synonyms

ATM
vsautomatic teller
149 1.6

A machine outside banks that gives cash when you use a card and code

is the same device but commonly called by an abbreviation
cash machine
vsautomatic teller
  • UK
9 1.9

A machine outside a bank where you take out money with a bank card and PIN

also performs basic banking tasks beyond cash withdrawal
automated teller
vsautomatic teller
2 2.9

A machine outside banks that gives cash and does simple bank tasks with a card

is identical in use but varies in the formal name only
automated teller machine
vsautomatic teller
1 2.9

A machine that gives you cash from your bank account when you use a bank card and secret number

is the same in function but differs mainly in naming
automatic teller machine
vsautomatic teller
1 2.7

A machine outside banks that gives cash and lets you do basic banking with a card and a code

is the same function but uses a slightly different word in name
cash dispenser
vsautomatic teller
  • UK
3.0

A machine outside a bank that gives out money when you use a bank card and code

also enables other simple bank transactions not just money dispensing

Antonyms

58 1.4

A bank worker who handles customers' cash at the counter

How Automated

home banking
  • Texting
1 3.2
automatic teller
  • Specialized
2 3.4
kiosk
32 3.3
teller
58 1.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

automatic + teller

The meaning is directly and compositional: 'automatic' (functioning with little human input) modifies 'teller' (a bank worker), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer a machine that performs teller functions. This adjective+noun pattern is straightforward and has clear parallels in many languages (e.g., Spanish 'cajero automático'), supporting immediate comprehensibility.

Etymology

The name automatic teller comes from the idea of a bank teller, the person who gives out cash, being replaced by a machine that is automatic and works on its own. That's why it means a machine that lets you get money 'without a human teller'.